Gündering

Gündering is a neologism used in urban studies to describe a recently observed mode of daily life in which social and economic activity is organized around continuous digital attention rather than traditional daylight-bound schedules. The term refers to a spectrum of practices in which notifications, remote work, and on-demand services blend work, study, and leisure into overlapping blocks of time that extend into late afternoon, evening, and sometimes night.

Origin and usage: The coinage surfaced in comparative urban research in the mid-2010s and has since circulated across studies of metropolitan areas with dense digital economies. It is not a fixed behavior but a descriptive label for patterns that vary by culture, occupation, and infrastructure.

Characteristics: Typical features include flexible work arrangements, multi-device multitasking, and blurred boundaries between private and public life. Activity becomes less tied to a single location or hour and more organized around micro-time blocks defined by technology, transport, and service platforms.

Implications: Gündering influences transportation demand, housing and urban design, and mental well-being. Some researchers point to increased productivity and autonomy, while others highlight risks such as time poverty, social isolation, and unequal exposure to workload.

Critiques: The concept has been criticized for vagueness and the challenge of operational measurement. Critics advocate clearer definitions, cross-cultural comparisons, and longitudinal data to distinguish gündering from related ideas like the 24/7 economy and digital labor.

See also: 24/7 economy; time-use research; platform capitalism; digital labor.